Dark Side Of The Moon

Chapter 24: Sombra

It was so easy to slip back into the trap. The voices called for him, saying they could help him, that he didn't need to put himself through this.

Again.

Conjure, shape, control. Those were the three steps he made for himself.

Step one. He grew a clump of black crystals, which appeared in his hand.

Step two. He envisioned sharp blades, the kind the Dusks used, dancing through the air. He felt the crystals change shape in his hand, growing longer, thinner, sharper.

Step three. He squinted at the target thirty feet away. He hurled the shard at the target. It flew through the air uncertainly (he was no knife thrower), but then stabilized. It buried itself in the wood with a satisfying shk.

Everything needs to move faster.

He grew a clump, and imagined sharp knives. He sent one flying through the air-

It plunged to the ground.

Sombra peered down at the crystal. It was a knife, yet not quite a knife. Somewhere between the circular clump and the thin blade, as if it was confused. Puzzled at its very identity.

I need to get better at shaping.

So he practiced. Growing clumps. Molding them into various objects. Knives. Crowns. Jewelry. Pens. The objects increased in size. Chairs. Tables.

Things were being formed in rapid succession, and quickly filling up the room. The windows were blocked from the sheer number of creations.

He slumped into one of the chairs panting, but satisfied.

It had been three weeks since the Dusks had broken Celestia out of his prison. He hadn't bothered going after them; Celestia simply wasn't worth the trouble. Besides, he knew exactly why they had taken her.

They want to take Luna away from you, the voices chided in his head. They want to take away your beautiful queen. They want to destroy you.

But she hadn't left him, and she never would.

What makes you so sure about that? The voices taunted, all of them snickering unanimously.

"Shut up!" He screamed.

A sharp crystal grew, and he hurled it into the target, cracks splintering across the top of it. The whole thing shuddered with the movement. He threw another. Relishing the way the target shuddered, as if it feared him.

With one last blade wedged in what remained of the wood, the whole thing cracked and tumbled to the ground.

******

"People are just targets, in a way," he told Luna as they made their way over to a meeting room, three hours later.

"If people are just targets, why do you care so much about me?" She asked coolly, fingering the necklace she wore. He had made it specifically for her, to prevent any magic use, minus basic convenience spells.

"You may be the target, but the arrow that hits it is my heart," Sombra replied, gently taking hold of her hand. I'm horrible at flirting. Why did I say that? She probably thinks I'm an idiot-

He didn't get the chance to hear her reply.

Bang! A deafening explosion shook the castle. Little bits of plaster fell from the wall, and the room quaked from the impact. It must have come from the throne room, which they had been in minutes before.